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La Protesta

13 June 1897

La Protesta, Buenos Aires, poster, 1924

Source:

BG E3/288

In the 1880s immigration to the Argentine Republic increased rapidly. The many poor newcomers were receptive to socialist and anarchist ideas. The Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta spent some time in Buenos Aires spreading propaganda. Longshoremen and mariners played a critical role in articulating the Argentinian anarcho-syndicalist agenda. Their casual and informal labour practices, immersion in seasonal rural-to-urban-migration and in immigrant neighbourhoods were factors contributing to the steadfastness of the anarchist tendency in the Argentinian labour movement. Among the many periodicals that emerged, Protesta Humana (continued as La Protesta) was one of the most important. It first appeared on 13 June 1897.

Geoffroy De Laforcase, 'Straddling the Nation and the Working World' in: Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World 1870-1940 (Leiden 2010)